The Solution is the fourth studio album by Philadelphia rapper Beanie Sigel. It was released on December 11, 2007. The album features production from Dre & Vidal, Reefa, and The Runners, among others. Guest appearances include Jay-Z, Ozzy Osbourne, R. Kelly, Ghostface Killah, and other notable musicians.
The Solution is Sigel's first album after re-signing with Roc-A-Fella Records. After his 2005 album, The B. Coming, he took a one-year hiatus from music and returned to recording in 2006. Speaking on the album, Beanie Sigel said:
R. Kelly is featured on the first single, "All the Above", while rapper Styles P is featured on "U Ain't Ready 4 Me". Jay-Z makes an appearance on the track "Gutted", while Diddy, Ghostface Killah, and Peedi Crakk hook up with Beanie on "Shake It For Me". Scarface is also featured on the song "Rain (Bridge)" with R&B artist Raheem DeVaughn, who also appears on "Prayer". Beanie Sigel jumps into unfamiliar territory by featuring an Ozzy Osbourne sample on the track "The Day" and a James Blunt sample on "Dear Self (Can I Talk To You)".
Production originally included producers like Scott Storch and Sha Money XL, but those tracks were cut for songs produced by Eric Hudson and Chad West. Production team Dre & Vidal produce five of the thirteen tracks on the album with help from up-and-coming Dirty Harry and Don Cheegro (Harry and Alex) and The Runners produce the lead single "All the Above". Reefa produces two tracks, including "Gutted", featuring Jay-Z. Cool & Dre and Dame Grease each produced one track each. Notably absent from The Solution is primary artist and producer Kanye West.
The Solution received generally positive ratings after its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 72 based on 10 reviews. Chris Gaerig of PopMatters praised the album, writing, "What Beanie Sigel lacks in sheer marketability he makes up for with a vicious flow and an ingenuity rarely seen from an artist of his caliber," while Slants Wilson McBee called the album "another hard-boiled testament of ghetto truth-telling."
Jeff Weiss, writing for The Los Angeles Times found that the album "feels unnecessarily bifurcated, with most of its first half devoted to grandiose tough-talk and limp club bangers devoted to passing the Patron. Yet on the recordâÂÂs latter side, Sigel forgets his commercial aspirations to channel his attention inward, providing a rare and extremely compelling glance at his demons." |Pitchforks Tom Breihan observed that The Solution was a "deeply schizophrenic record, one that completely divorces Beanie's cocksure swagger from his introspective depth. Maybe next time around Beanie will figure out how to unleash both of those sides on the same songs, to let them build on each other and complicate things. If that happens, something tells me the Runners won't be involved."
The Solution opened and peaked at number 37 on the US Billboard 200 with first week sales of 49,000 units. It marked Sigel's first album to miss the chart's top ten. The album also reached number three on Billboards Top Rap Albums and number seven on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. By November 2009, the album had sold 346,000 copies domestically.
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